I have reviewed hundreds of cars, trucks, SUVs, crossovers, minivans and motorcycles for a wide assortment of magazines and websites. If it's got wheels and an engine, I want to drive it or ride it, and then write about it. I'm fascinated by transportation, and by what our means of transportation says about who we are. I have lived all over the place, but I've settled in Southern California for the great roads.

Okay, just one. An old man goes to see an eye doctor, and upon inspection, the doctor tells him, “It looks like you have a cataract.” The old man says, “No, I drive a Buick.”

I drove a Buick Verano this week, the 2012 Buick Verano FWD 1SL, to be exact. According to General Motors, Verano is Buick’s first attempt to compete in the compact luxury segment. That puts it up against the Lexus IS 250, BMW 3-series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, Audi A4, Acura TSX and a few others. With prices for the 2012 Buick Verano starting at $23,470 ($28,245 as tested), Verano isn’t priced to compete with the compact luxury sedans, which start about $10,000 higher. Verano matches up better with the popular sedans like the Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Hyundai Sonata. Sorry, Buick — you don’t get to pick your competitors and share their luxury credentials by assertion.

That’s not a criticism of Verano — we haven’t gotten there yet. It’s a rejection of the marketing ploy, that’s all. I’d rather take a clear-eyed view of the new Buick without labeling it “luxury” or “non-luxury.”

Verano’s exterior design is clean, modern and inoffensive. The big front grille reminds me of Buicks past, but the big jeweled headlights that wrap around the front corners of the vehicle make me think about the future. The teardrop-shaped daylight opening is rimmed with chrome, giving a nice continuity to Verano’s profile view. The signature Buick engine compartment ports have migrated up to the top of the front fenders, unfortunately invisible from the side of the vehicle. The sedan’s four doors are very plain, with just a touch of chrome on the handles to lend interest. The roof slopes down and gently meets the trunk lid, which is decked out with big taillight assemblies that wrap onto the rear fenders and around the corners of the car. Paint quality and overall fit and finish are good, if unremarkable. For a vehicle that has just hit the market this year, Verano breaks little new ground in exterior design.

Verano is between the size of a Toyota Corolla and a Toyota Camry at 183.9″ in total length (a Corolla is 180″ long; a Camry is 189.2″). I use the Toyotas as a point of comparison, because that’s where I think the real competition lies. Verano is very close in size, appointments, price and appeal to Camry, and I suspect that many Verano shoppers will consider Camry before they decide on Verano.

Getting behind the wheel of Verano is pretty easy. It’s always a matter of compromise when you squeeze four doors onto a compact vehicle, and Buick’s designers have done a good job of making both the front and rear compartments accessible. Comfortable dual bucket seats do the job in the front seat, with plenty of adjustments. Aided by the manual tilt/telescope steering wheel, I was able to find a comfortable driving position. I was less than thrilled with the color of the interior leather seating surfaces, which Buick called “Choccachino,” which is a flattering name for a color I would never choose. At least the seats were supportive, neither overly stuffed nor too hard. Second row passengers didn’t complain about headroom, but had to negotiate with front row passengers to get enough legroom.

Verano comes with Buick’s Intellilink telematics system, which provides voice recognition, Bluetooth phone and audio pairing, available satellite radio and Pandora and Stitcher radio apps built in. Using your cellphone as the data connection, Intellilink can access the internet-based music and entertainment services. It’s a very cool feature, and a hint that Buick isn’t standing still on technology. Navigation is available, and like on all GM vehicles, OnStar is standard. I’d skip the navigation and just keep OnStar, because the system works so well. Verano has a proximity key and pushbutton engine start/stop, with a button that’s placed on the upper left corner of the center stack — unlike any other vehicle I’ve encountered. Different for the sake of different?

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A simple visit to the on-line configurators for the Toyota Camry and the Buick Verano disproves them as competitors. With comparable equipment, a Verano is priced @$3,000 less than a Camry. Yes, the Camry is a larger vehicle– but that’s the point. The Camry is a mass market mid-size car. A loaded Camry competes with the Buick Regal, a mid-size, not the Verano.

The Verano is a FWD compact that offers a high level of content. The only thing comparable in the Toyota range is a Lexus CT200h, which is smaller and slower, but has a hybrid powertrain, so it’s not comparable to a Verano, either.

Buick has made a smart move. They’ve placed a vehicle in a niche that has no competitors in its size, equipment and price range. The upcoming Honda Civic-based Acura ILX may compete with it, or a loaded Jetta.

I hear you, Dale, and I appreciate the way that you’ve parsed the issue. But I still think that Verano shoppers will be measuring against Camry, precisely because there’s not a direct competitor in the Toyota lineup. My point is that few potential buyers will choose Verano over the Lexus IS — that’s not the competition.

That is- you don’t have to fill a Verano up with $3.79 a gallon Arab fuel. Instead, you can fill it up with $2.89 a gallon American-made E85 flex-fuel at almost 3,000 stations around the country. http://e85prices.com

The Verano is Chevy Cruze’s city-class cousin, who sips American-made fuel like a country cousin.

Congrats to Buick for the first commercially successful, widely available 4-cylinder Flex-Fuel car.

Well basically regular GM – how is possible someone to consider a car with the same type of engine (180hp 4cyl) ahead of Camry if it gives significantly worse mileage? That basically means lack of technology, poor software and possibly mediocre gear box. The front is terrible by the way – if Buick want to keep “classic” Buick look they have to look in a way to make it better. Just follow the BMW pattern – all BMW have the same grille but is never look old.

The Buick Verano is a great car and is already proven in other markets, its new to North America. The writer of this story failed to note that. There is no current Toyota that can be compared to this car and a Camry is a downgrade compared to this car. Buick has done a fine job with the Verano and other versions are on the way, expect a 2.0 Turbo and a mild hybrid version to roll out in due time. The 7 inch touch screen is very good and when you play Pandora with the Buick Intellilink its stunning. So lets give Buick a thumbs up for the Verano.

Thanks for your comment, Henry. I don’t agree that Camry is a “downgrade” compared to Verano, but it’s a matter of opinion. I look forward to new versions of the Verano — but I haven’t driven them yet, nor are they on sale now. Pandora with Intellilink is very cool technology, I agree. Just be aware that data charges may apply from your cellphone provider.

The vast majority of people who use Pandora on their phones have unlimited data plans and would face no data charges. The 2.0T is on sale in Asia and also in Europe on their versions of the Verano. I know its hard to accept that a Buick is this good, and its just halftime. Turn on Pandora and give Buick a thumbs up.

It’s too bad there’s no slightly downsized Atkinson cycle engine option with a powerful electric motor hybrid system to get more efficiency and at least the same performance in the Verano. Perhaps in a few years when lithium ion batteries go up in energy density and down in price.

Jason, I do not agree with your comparisons with the Verano. I am a baby boomer who was driving VW jettas and just traded in my 08 Passat Lux on a new base model Verano. I love this car! It does have the sporty ride and handling that I like, yet is more comfortable and quiet than the VW. The seats are very comfortable with 8 way manual adjustment. The engine and six speed transmission work beautifully smooth. I just got 34.2 mpg on regular gas driving on the expressway. I like the big wheels and tires vs, the little wheels and tires on the VW’s and burning regular instead of premium. This car is a huge step forward for Buick from the boring past!

Hi! A soundbite from Quebec Canada. I have a question to which I cannot get an answer here. My new Verano seems to be running at low gears. (I’m not using the manual shifting). It seems that wehenever the car hits under 60 and down we hear a lot of gear noises and at 40, we feel like being pulled forward in the few last shiftings.. I’ve hade GM products all my life (Malibus, Regal etc) and never had this kind of problem on a new car. My dealer says that I should wait to reach 8,000 kil…the car computor will then get used to my driving. Truth or baloney?. Hope I ghet get a reaction to this note. Regards